Global investment bank J.P. Morgan has lowered this year's growth forecast for South Korea to one-point-nine percent, reflecting the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The bank said Thursday that considering the spread of COVID-19 and lowered growth outlook for countries around the world, including the United States, a recovery in South Korea's economy, after taking a hit in the first quarter, will likely be delayed. 

The firm lowered Korea's gross domestic product growth for the second quarter to zero-point-nine percent and for the whole of 2020 to one-point-nine percent, down from the two-point-three forecast made before the outbreak.

J.P. Morgan also said that odds have increased for the Bank of Korea to introduce fiscal easing measures. It issued a revised prediction that the BOK will likely lower the key rate by a quarter percentage point this month with possibly more to come in the third quarter.

The investment bank previously forecast a BOK rate cut in April.